2000–01 British Basketball League season

April 2020 February 2012 2000–01 BBL season British Basketball League Basketball Roll of Honour BBL N Sheffield Sharks S London Towers Play Off's Leicester Riders National Cup Leicester Riders BBL Trophy Chester Jets List of British Basketball League seasons British Basketball League 1999–2000 2001–02 The 2000–01 BBL season, the 14th since its establishment of the British Basketball League, commenced on 30 September 2000 and ended on 7 April 2001, with a total of 13 teams competing. The regular season saw teams split into two geographically divided Conferences, seven in the North and six in the South, with northern teams playing 36 games and southern teams playing 34 games each. Sheffield Sharks were crowned winners of the North, while London Towers dominated the South, both teams tallying 27 wins in the regular season. Played in parallel with the regular season, the BBL’s peripheral competition the uni-ball Trophy was conquered by Chester Jets, after a 92-81 win against Newcastle Eagles. Teams also contested the NTL National Cup with clubs from the lower placed National Basketball League, with Leicester Riders prevailing in a close final against Greater London Leopards. Following the regular season, the top-four teams from each Conference progressed to the play-offs which ran from 14 April to 5 May, climaxing with the Play-off Final at Wembley Arena. Leicester Riders shocked bookmakers and fans alike, taking the Championship title with an 84-75 victory over Sheffield, adding to their National Cup success. London Towers was the league’s sole representative in European competition, appearing in the Euroleague. They failed to make the Round of 16, finishing 5th in the 6-team Group D with a 1-9 record. Notable occurrences London Towers opened their campaign in the Euroleague with an 86-61 win against the Frankfurt Skyliners on 18 October 2000. Kendrick Warren posted a game-high 21 points for the Towers.http://www.eurobasket.com/events/eluleb/00-01/d.asp EUROBASKET - basketball www.eurobasket.com https://web.archive.org/web/20080330030557/http://www.eurobasket.com/events/eluleb/00-01/d.asp 30 March 2008 On 6 November, Derby Storm's 104-84 home victory over Edinburgh Rocks ended the BBL’s longest ever losing streak, with Storm’s last league win coming on 26 March, an 88-91 victory away to Milton Keynes Lions. Ian Whittell Battling Derby are looking up https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/4775184/Basketball-Battling-Derby-are-looking-up.html 2009-12-10 The Independent London 6 November 2000 Greater London Leopards undertook a mid-season tour of the United States throughout November, playing some of the top college teams in the country, finishing with a 2-3 record. Ian Whittell Leopards benefit from tour of US https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/4775388/Basketball-Leopards-benefit-from-tour-of-US.html 2009-12-10 The Independent London 10 November 2000 Birmingham Bullets’ attempt to sign Panamanian Antonio García, after he walked out on Derby a day earlier, was taken to court after Derby refused to release his registration. Richard Taylor Garcia at the centre of a storm https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/garcia-at-the-centre-of-a-storm-628577.html 2009-12-10 The Independent London 9 December 2000August 2021 medicmedic Leicester Riders were crowned NTL National Cup champions on 7 January 2001, with an 84-82 win over Greater London Leopards at the Sheffield Arena ending a 30-year hunt for silverware. Mark Woods Leicester drink from fairytale Cup http://www.britball.com/2001/natcupmen01-final.html 2001 2009-12-10 BritBall 8 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708094732/http://www.britball.com/2001/natcupmen01-final.html dead The Northern Conference conquered in the annual All-Star Game, with a 161-148 victory over their Southern counterparts at the Telewest Arena on 20 January. Newcastle Eagles’ Tony Windless was voted MVP after scoring 25 points, while Thames Valley Tigers’ Tony Christie posted a game-high 29 points for the South. Mark Woods Windless blows hot as North twinkles http://www.britball.com/2001/allstar01.html 2001 2009-12-10 BritBall Chester Jets won the uni-ball Trophy on 24 March, with a 92-81 win against Newcastle at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The celebrations were even more noticeable after Chester coach Robbie Peers and the Jets team performed a conga-line around the court. Mark Woods Chester pick up uni-ball Trophy http://www.britball.com/2001/ut01-final.htm 2001 2009-12-10 BritBall Jets' Pero Cameron was named as MVP. Leicester claimed their second piece of silverware for the season, adding the Play-off title to their earlier National Cup victory. Riders claimed the win on 5 May at Wembley Arena with an 84-75 victory over Sheffield Sharks, shooting an overall 57% from the floor. Larry Johnson was named as MVP. Mark Woods Leicester story has happy ending http://www.britball.com/2001/blchamps01-final.html 2001 2009-12-10 BritBall BBL Championship (Tier 1) Final standings Northern Conference PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Sheffield Sharks 36 27 9 0.750542 Chester Jets 36 25 11 0.69450 3 Newcastle Eagles 36 20 16 0.55540 4 Leicester Riders 36 17 19 0.47234 5 Manchester Giants 36 15 21 0.41630 6 Derby Storm 36 6 30 0.16612 7 Edinburgh Rocks 36 5 31 0.13810 Southern Conference PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 London Towers 34 27 7 0.794542 Greater London Leopards 34 24 10 0.70548 3 Milton Keynes Lions 34 21 13 0.61742 4 Birmingham Bullets 34 18 16 0.52936 5 Thames Valley Tigers 34 14 20 0.41128 6 Brighton Bears 34 9 25 0.26418 = Conference winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs 1st round #eee 14 April 2001 Birmingham Bullets 80 75 Newcastle Eagles SkyDome Arena, Coventry 14 April 2001 Leicester Riders 77 75 Milton Keynes Lions SkyDome Arena, Coventry Quarter-finals #eee 16 April 2001 Chester Jets 71 90 Leicester Riders SkyDome Arena, Coventry 16 April 2001 Greater London Leopards 89 84 Birmingham Bullets SkyDome Arena, Coventry Semi-finals #eee 21 April 2001 London Towers 79 87 Leicester Riders SkyDome Arena, Coventry 21 April 2001 Sheffield Sharks 87 77 Greater London Leopards SkyDome Arena, Coventry Final #eee 5 May 2001 5.45pm GMT Report Sheffield Sharks 75 84 24-15 21-21 12-28 18-20 Leicester Riders Terrell Myers 14, Peter Scantlebury 14, Nate Reinking 12 Peter Scantlebury 10 Peter Scantlebury 6 Ralph Blalock 25, Larry Johnson 24, Purnell Perry, 13, Purnell Perry 12 Larry Johnson 8 Wembley Arena, London National League Conference (Tier 2) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Plymouth Raiders 21 19 2 0.905382 Worthing Thunder Rebels 21 16 5 0.76232 3 Teesside Mohawks 21 15 6 0.71430 4 Manchester Magic 21 9 12 0.42918 5 Coventry Crusaders 21 7 14 0.33314 6 Inter-Basket London + 21 7 14 0.333137 Solent Stars 21 6 15 0.28612 8 Sutton Pumas 21 5 16 0.23810 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs + one point deducted Play Off Final - Plymouth 83 Worthing 77 National League Division 1 (Tier 3) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Oxford Devils 18 17 1 0.944342 Reading Rockets 18 13 5 0.72226 3 Westminster Warriors 18 9 9 0.50018 4 Cardiff Clippers 18 8 10 0.44416 5 Kingston Wildcats 18 6 12 0.33312 6 Birmingham Aces 18 6 12 0.333127 Liverpool 18 2 16 0.1114 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Play Off Final - Reading 97 Oxford 82 National League Division 2 (Tier 4) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Derbyshire Arrows 24 24 0 1.000482 Ealing Tornadoes 24 20 4 0.83340 3 Ware Rebels 24 17 7 0.71834 4 Hull Icebergs 24 16 8 0.66732 5 North London Lords 24 15 9 0.62530 6 Doncaster Panthers 24 12 12 0.500247 Taunton Tigers 24 12 12 0.50024 8 Mansfield Express 24 11 13 0.45822 9 NW London Wolverines 24 9 15 0.37518 10 Northampton Neptunes 24 7 17 0.29214 11 Brixton TopCats 24 6 18 0.25012 12 South London Bulls 24 5 19 0.2081013 Swindon Sonics 24 3 21 0.1256 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Play Off Final - Ealing v Derbyshire 82-81 National League Division 3 (Tier 5) Final standings {| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align: center;" |- !Pos!!scope="col" style="width: 180px;"|Team!!Pld!!W!!L!!%!!Pts |- style="background: #ffffcc;" |1 ||style="text-align:left;"| Bristol Bombers || 22 || 20 || 2 ||0.909||40 |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |2 ||style="text-align:left;"| Worcester Wolves || 22 || 18 || 4 ||0.818||36 |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |3 ||style="text-align:left;"| Thames Valley Tigers II || 22 || 18 || 4 ||0.818||36 |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |4 ||style="text-align:left;"| Dudley Bears || 22 || 12 || 10 ||0.545||24 |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |5 ||style="text-align:left;"| Barking & Dag. Erkenwald || 22 || 11 || 11 ||0.500||22 |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |6 ||style="text-align:left;"| Nottingham College || 22 || 11 || 11 ||0.500||22 |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |7 ||style="text-align:left;"| Brighton Cougars || 22 || 11 || 11 ||0.500||22 |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |8 ||style="text-align:left;"| University of Birmingham || 22 || 10 || 12 ||0.455||20 |- style="background: ;" |9 ||style="text-align:left;"| Northumbria University || 22 || 8 || 14 ||0.364||16 |- style="background: ;" |10 ||style="text-align:left;"| Tamar Valley Cannons || 22 || 6 || 16 ||0.273||12 |- style="background: ;" |11 ||style="text-align:left;"| Derby Storm II || 22 || 3 || 19 ||0.136||6 |- style="background: ;" |12 ||style="text-align:left;"| Colchester Alliance || 22 || 3 || 19 ||0.136||''6 |} = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Play Off Final - Bristol v Barking & Dagenham Erkenwald 89-67 NTL National Cup Last 16 Team 1 Team 2 Score Worthing Thunder Greater London Leopards 67-108 Thames Valley Tigers Sheffield Sharks 112-100 Brighton Bears Manchester Giants 72-74 Chester Jets Newcastle Eagles 85-100 Teesside Mohawks Leicester Riders 102-110 Birmingham Bullets Solent Stars 109-61 Derby Storm Edinburgh Rocks 86-59 Milton Keynes Lions London Towers 81-83 Quarter-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Derby Storm Thames Valley Tigers 74-87 London Towers Manchester Giants 70-61 Greater London Leopards Newcastle Eagles 103-100 Birmingham Bullets Leicester Riders 109-118 Semi-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Leicester Riders Thames Valley Tigers 95-85 Greater London Leopards London Towers 84-82 Final #eee 7 January 2001 Leicester Riders 84 82 Greater London Leopards Ralph Blalock 26, Larry Johnson 21, Billy Singleton 12, Malcolm Leak 10, Purnell Perry 9 Rob Brown 22, Rashod Johnson 16, Maurice Robinson 14, Rico Alderson 13, Jason Kimbrough 9 Sheffield Arena uni-ball Trophy Group stage Group A TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Chester Jets106510.8332.Greater London Leopards86420.6663.Sheffield Sharks66330.5004.Brighton Bears06060.000 Sheffield qualified as the third-place team with the best record on basket difference. Group B TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Thames Valley Tigers86420.6662.Derby Storm66330.5003.Birmingham Bullets66330.5004.Leicester Riders46240.333 Derby qualified ahead of Birmingham on head-to-head results, losing 76-74 and winning 106-90. Group C TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Newcastle Eagles106510.8332.Milton Keynes Lions86420.6663.Manchester Giants66330.5004.Edinburgh Rocks06060.000 London Towers received a bye into the Quarter-finals, due to scheduling conflicts with their Euroleague campaign. Quarter-finals #eee 3 February 2001 Chester Jets 82 74 Derby Storm SkyDome Arena, Coventry 3 February 2001 London Towers 70 74 Sheffield Sharks SkyDome Arena, Coventry #eee 3 February 2001 Greater London Leopards 78 87 Newcastle Eagles SkyDome Arena, Coventry 3 February 2001 Milton Keynes Lions 81 86 Thames Valley Tigers SkyDome Arena, Coventry Semi-finals #eee 9 February 2001 Newcastle Eagles 87 84 Thames Valley Tigers SkyDome Arena, Coventry 9 February 2001 Chester Jets 69 64 Sheffield Sharks SkyDome Arena, Coventry Final #eee 24 March 2001 Report Chester Jets 92 81 27-24 22-13 20-29 23-15 Newcastle Eagles Loren Meyer, 26, Pero Cameron 20, Duane Clemens 16, James Hamilton 16 Tony Windless 29, TJ Walker 11, Donnie Johnson 11, Brian Ehlers 11 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham All-Star Game #eee 20 January 2001 Northern All-Stars 161 148 Southern All-Stars Tony Windless, 25 Tony Christie, 29 Telewest Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne +Northern All-StarsPlayer Team USA James Hamilton Chester Jets USA Malcolm Leak Leicester Riders USA Donnie Johnson Newcastle Eagles USA Loren Meyer Chester Jets USA Barry Bowman Derby Storm USA Purnell Perry Leicester Riders USA Justin Phoenix Manchester Giants USA Terrell Myers Sheffield Sharks USA UK Tony Windless Newcastle Eagles USA Ted Berry Edinburgh Rocks USA Ralph Blalock Leicester Riders USA UK Nate Reinking Sheffield Sharks Coach UK Robbie Peers Chester Jets +Southern All-StarsPlayer Team Panama Antonio Garcia Birmingham Bullets USA John McCord Thames Valley Tigers Barbados Andrew Alleyne Milton Keynes Lions USA Kendrick Warren London Towers USA Ireland Jason Siemon Milton Keynes Lions USA Rashod Johnson Greater London Leopards USA Wilbur Johnson Brighton Bears USA Tony Christie Thames Valley Tigers USA Brant Bailey Birmingham Bullets USA Maurice Robinson Greater London Leopards Barbados UK Nigel Lloyd Milton Keynes Lions USA Randy Duck London Towers Coach USA Nick Nurse Brighton Bears Statistics leaders CategoryPlayerStatPoints per gameUSA UK John McCord (Thames Valley) 25.50Rebounds per game Panama Antonio García (Derby/Birmingham) 14.90Assists per game Barbados Nigel Lloyd (Milton Keynes) 5.86 Seasonal awards Most Valuable Player: Loren Meyer (Chester Jets) Coach of the Year: Robbie Peers (Chester Jets) All-Star First Team: Loren Meyer (Chester Jets) Kendrick Warren (London Towers) Steve Bucknall (London Towers) Tony Windless (Newcastle Eagles) John McCord (Thames Valley Tigers) All-Star Second Team:''' James Hamilton (Chester Jets) Nate Reinking (Sheffield Sharks) Barry Bowman (Derby Storm) Nigel Lloyd (Milton Keynes Lions) Terrell Myers (Sheffield Sharks) References 30em 1999–2000 season 2001–02 season BBL seasons 2000–01 Category:British Basketball League seasons 1 British